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Edmonton Oilers hold breath on Taylor Hall injury

OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 19: Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators battles against Taylor Hall #4 of the Edmonton Oilers for the puck during an NHL game at Canadian Tire Centre on October 19, 2013 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)Photo: (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)

“He’s a big part of our team so it’s tough to see him get injured,” said Jordan Eberle, who didn’t skate on Sunday but figured he’d be good to go. Assuming Eberle will be in the lineup, the Oilers will not call up a forward from the Oklahoma City Barons for the game. Instead they will insert Ryan Jones, who was a healthy scratch against the Senators.

“I’m not an expert,” Eberle said, “but I think with injuries like that you wait until the next day and look to see what’s wrong. To see if the inflammation goes down but yeah, it’s a tough loss for our team.”

Hall has had his share of unfortunate injuries since the Oilers selected him first overall in the 2010 draft. He was clipped by a skate blade during a warm-up which left him with a frightening gash that required 30 stitches; he had to leave the lineup to have shoulder surgery in 2012 and his stellar rookie season was cut short when he sustained a high ankle sprain in a fight.

“We have so much skill, we can fill that void,” Eberle said. “If there’s one team that can do it, it’s us. We have so much skill in this locker-room but Taylor is obviously a guy who’s going to be missed. Guys are going to have to step up.”

“It’s a big loss for sure, but we have depth,” said Ales Hemsky, “(and) this is nothing new to us.”

The Oilers didn’t even open the season with their lineup intact as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was still on his way back from shoulder surgery and Sam Gagner was left with a fractured jaw in an exhibition game.

“We seem to have tough luck with injuries but you just have to battle through it as a team,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “As a team you have to pick up the (slack) any way possible.”

“We’ll have to wait and see what the MRI shows,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “We just determined last night that we needed to send him home.”